Reply To: Brand Names�Wasting Money

It has always been part of our mesorah to tell people what they should and should not spend their money on when it effects society as a whole.

“His clothes should not drag on the ground like the dress of the haughty, but [should extend] to the heel and his sleeves [should extend] to his fingers. He should not let his cloak hang down, for that creates an impression of haughtiness”

“First of all, clothes were basically long robes in the Rambam’s and Talmud’s day. The Rambam here states that long clothes which reach the ground are typical of the arrogant. Likewise, letting down one’s robe (from being hitched up at the belt) is a sign of arrogance. The basic idea is that lengthy clothes were impractical for the working class, as they interfered with manual labor. The wealthy leisure classes, who needed not work themselves, typically wore such clothes as a sign of their status. Thus, anyone who wore such a style was considered to be flaunting a high social status which the Sages deemed ostentatious.” ~Aryeh Kaplan